Donations from the Valley General Hospital Foundation to the hospital are used annually to purchase equipment, make facility improvements and support continuing programs.

This year’s money includes $75,000 that will be used to purchase better critical-care beds and orthopedic-surgery equipment, and make other surgery-unit improvements.

At Sky Valley, about $80,000 will be spent on a new electronic medical-records system, a necessity after Valley General sold the clinic to a group of local doctors.

“It’s a priority for the hospital board to provide quality care for patients and the doctors,” hospital spokeswoman Tina Ross said. “Money is so very tight at the hospital that if the foundation isn’t doing what it’s doing, we wouldn’t have this new technology and beds.”

Because Valley General is publicly run, it is limited in the way it can solicit funds. Much of the hospital’s money comes from taxes paid by residents of its service zone, which covers parts of Snohomish and King counties.

The foundation began helping the Sky Valley clinic with the financial transfer of the medical office from Valley General to private owners, who began operating it in March 2003. Now that the clinic is privately run, the foundation’s donation will help secure the clinic’s future, officials say.

“Our mission has always been to raise funds to help the hospital purchase capital equipment or support existing and new programs that benefit the community,” said foundation manager Lin McIlrath. “If you take Providence Everett’s [hospital] foundation, which raises a million dollars, we don’t raise much. But for a hospital our size, we’ve done well.”

Established in 1986, the foundation has built its visibility around its annual classic-car raffle. Between February and September, the foundation displays a car for sale at various events and sells tickets to the public. A winner is drawn each September at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe.